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science.”
    “And what does science tell you?”
    “Science tells me we need to do more research.”
    Carter gave a laugh, the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkling. “Good answer. So tell me, Dr. Brannick, do you think you will ever see one?”
    Tess thought over all the prints she had found. She thought of the times she had felt eyes on her in the woods. But the memories of the night in the forest with her father and brother pushed to the forefront.
    “It’s only a matter of time,” she said.

CHAPTER 8
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    C arter closed the laptop in front of him and sat back. Impressive . He had queried Dr. Brannick for almost forty minutes about her research. She had a strong science background, and she was straightforward, edging to blunt. He liked that.
    Plus, she was good-looking. The picture in the file hadn’t done her justice. It hadn’t captured her energy. Even through the monitor, he could sense her passion, her intelligence, her dedication. If anyone was going to succeed in this quest, it was Dr. Tess Brannick. And her attractiveness would be a boon when she succeeded. The media would love her.
    Thaddeus quietly stood up from the couch. “Sir?”
    “What is your impression?” Carter asked.
    “Her pedigree is impressive. She received high marks in all her coursework, and her professors were highly impressed with her, although many expressed concern about her chosen field of study.”
    Carter snorted. Academics — a bunch of smarty-pants writing articles for each other . But Brannick was different. She was going out on her own, away from the mainstream. He respected that. He knew that while the greatest risk was in ventures like these, so were the rewards.
    “But I think it is her own personal experience that gives her the edge,” Thaddeus continued. “She knows she will be successful, because she has already met bigfoot.”
    A childhood obsession—just like me. They were both focused on finding the beast. And together, they would succeed.
    The financial windfall from the find would be astronomical. From a pure marketing standpoint, the potential profit was incalculable. And for a man known for being able to break everything down to dollars and cents, that was truly saying something. Who wouldn’t pay an arm and a leg to see a bigfoot—live and in person?
    But even the financial windfall paled in comparison to what else could be gained. If the hominid existed, it had a strength and build that far eclipsed that of any human. If they could harness that for the military, or figure out a way to genetically modify humans to achieve that same physique… why, that military would be unstoppable.
    Of course, Carter knew he wasn’t the first to have thought of the military applications of genetically modifying humans. Back during the Cold War, the USSR had attempted to merge animals and humans in an effort to increase the physical capabilities of their soldiers. It all began with a Soviet biologist named Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov, the first person to figure out how to artificially inseminate animals. The USSR contracted him to create super soldiers using a mixture of apes and humans, so he went to Congo to inseminate chimps with human sperm. But he failed. Attempts at using monkey sperm on human volunteers also failed.
    Yet other attempts had demonstrated that cross-species breeding was possible. There was the liger, for instance: part tiger, part lion. And the zebroid: a cross between a zebra and either a horse or donkey. Grolars: a cross between a grizzly and a polar bear. And wholphins: a whale/dolphin hybrid. The list went on.
    The biggest problem with the Soviet research, Carter thought, had been the use of gorillas. They simply weren’t genetically compatible enough with humans. But if Carter was right, bigfoot was even more closely related to humans than apes were.
    Which meant there was a stronger possibility of success.
    Carter twirled his chair and grabbed the cane next to his